Thomas Hodge, Pioneer at LPD, Dies at 92

One of the first four black Lakeland police officers, all of whom started in early 1954, has died, his son said.Thomas Hodge was born May 21, 1921. He died Wednesday at age 92.

By RICK ROUSOSTHE LEDGER

LAKELAND | One of the first four black Lakeland police officers, all of whom started in early 1954, has died, his son said.Thomas Hodge was born May 21, 1921. He died Wednesday at age 92.His funeral is set for Saturday at 11 a.m. at Harmony Baptist Church, 1645 N. Webster Ave.Hodge was married for more than 70 years to his wife, Adele Hodge, 94, who is now having serious health problems, said their son, Tyrone E. Hodge. It took years of pressuring and cajoling from the city's black community for Hodge and three other black men to become the first blacks to patrol the streets for the LPD.Edgar Pickett, 85, was one of those four pioneers. Pickett said Monday that he's now the only one left alive of the four.Hodge was "was like a brother to me," Pickett said."We started off at the same time. He was 6 foot 3, weighed 200 or more, and I weighed 150," Pickett said. "He stuck up for me" many times. The black officers for years worked in separate parts of the police station from the white officers. They were ordered to patrol only in their own neighborhood."We would arrest a man on Saturday and the next week see him in church or the store," Pickett said."The area we patrolled was so small, we might pass the same house four or five times pretty quick. If Tom didn't see a light on in a house, he'd wake people up."During patrol together, Hodge "sang Christian songs ... and told me what he cooked or what he was going to cook" for this wife, Pickett said. Family members said Hodge served the LPD from 1954 to 1975.Pickett said the black officers had a steeper climb than white officers, and that included the inferior way black officers were trained. "We couldn't go to the same schools," he said.In 2002, Ledger columnist LaFrancine Burton wrote that Hodge, who worked as a military policeman before his hiring at LPD, was the first black officer to have arrested a white man while racial arrest restrictions were still in force.The man was convicted, Burton wrote, and while the judge praised Officer Hodge, he cautioned him to "be careful." Tyrone Hodge, a medical assistant with the Polk County Health Department, said he was born the same day his father was given his LPD uniform.Tyrone Hodge said those first four black officers "blazed a trail" for others.City Commissioner Phillip Walker said he grew up in the neighborhood Hodge patrolled and knew him well.Walker said that, as with many heroes, no park and no street will be named after Hodge. "But he represented a fabric of his community." "You had to respect that man because of the good that he exemplified and what he represented in this community," Walker said. ""He was very forthright. He was a strong disciplinarian. He had that stern, firm look. But you knew if you did right, he was there to help you."

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